Good Morning. Welcome to The Wire’s daily news roundup. Each day, our staff gathers the top China business, finance, and economics headlines from a selection of the world’s leading news organizations.
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The Wall Street Journal
- Rare-Earth Magnet Maker Raises $65 Million in Push to Counter China — Vulcan Elements says Brad Gerstner’s Altimeter led the funding round, which comes as China tightens exports of critical minerals.
- The U.S. Marches Toward State Capitalism With American Characteristics — President Trump is imitating the Chinese Communist Party by extending political control ever deeper into the economy.
- Beijing Removes Suburban Home-Purchase Limit — Authorities in China’s capital lifted the cap on suburban property purchases for eligible families.
- Nvidia, AMD to Give U.S. 15% Cut on AI Chip Sales to China — The unusual arrangement follows Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s meeting with President Trump.
- China Detains Senior Diplomat Who Aided U.S. Relations — Liu Jianchao received a warm reception during a 2024 visit to Washington and New York where he was seen as a potential foreign minister.
- The Engineering Marvel That China Hopes Will Help Wean It Off Foreign Energy — A giant hydropower project at the edge of the Tibetan plateau represents a spectacular feat of engineering—and an unsettling prospect for the nations downstream.
- Opinion: Scrapping AI Export Controls Is Self-Defeating — The policy was never intended as a brick wall but as a strategic speed bump to limit China’s military capabilities. By Matt Pottinger and Liza Tobin.
The Financial Times
- Lithium producer stocks surge after battery maker CATL suspends Chinese mine — Move has spurred speculation that Beijing is moving to address overproduction.
- Trump urges China to buy more US soyabeans as trade truce deadline looms — High Chinese tariffs threaten important market for US farmers.
- Manus and Benchmark: The AI deal that upset China and the US — Start-up came under fire from Beijing for abandoning the country as Washington scrutinised its Silicon Valley backer.
- Nvidia and AMD to pay 15% of China chip sale revenues to US government — Chipmakers agree to unusual arrangement to secure export licences from Trump administration.
- China wants US to relax export controls on chips as part of trade deal — Experts warn dropping restrictions would give Beijing a competitive advantage in artificial intelligence.
- China reopens Covid toolbox in battle against Chikungunya virus — Foshan mobilises drones, bugs, fish and fumigation teams to stem mosquito-borne outbreak.
- China’s tech dealmaker Bao Fan freed from detention after two years — Disappearance of China Renaissance founder sent chills through the country’s finance sector in 2023.
The New York Times
- China’s Automakers Are Taking a Shortcut to European Markets — Ships carrying Chinese cars are using the Red Sea and Suez Canal even as other vessels still sail around Africa in fear of attacks by the Houthi militia.
- U.S. Government to Take Cut of Nvidia and AMD A.I. Chip Sales to China — In a highly unusual arrangement with President Trump, the companies are expected to kick 15 percent of what they make in China to the U.S. government.
- Xi Looks to Tighten Grip After Scandals Shake China’s Military Elite — The Chinese leader’s crackdown on military corruption reveals how deep his concerns run, not only about battlefield readiness, but about political survival, as well.
- India’s Modi Left Soul-Searching After Failed Courtships of Xi and Trump — The collapse of the prime minister’s high-stakes efforts to transform ties with the world’s two superpowers has exposed the limits of India’s leverage.
- New Tariff on ‘Transshipped’ Goods Mystifies Importers — The Trump administration levied a hefty tariff on goods that are moved through other countries, but it has not yet fully explained its plans.
- Opinion: Trump Got It Right When He Killed the De Minimis Trade Provision — The de minimis policy let China benefit at our expense. By George E. Bogden.
Caixin
- Why Concerns About a Collapse in China’s Demand Are Overblown — Figures released in June suggest that the economy will face a range of challenges in the second half, including the real estate slump, weakening foreign demand, persistent low prices, and fallout from a government clampdown on toxic competition across a range of industries.
- China’s Robotics Execs Outline Playbook for Overseas Expansion — Companies need to focus on finding the right single market, tailoring their business to the local needs of that market, and ensuring the reliability of their products, industry executives and investors say
- Opinion: China’s Approach to Stablecoins Should Focus on Their Risks — Eddie Yue, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, added a note of caution, writing that the speculative bubble around the concept merits regulatory scrutiny. By Caixin.
South China Morning Post
- For university that bridges China and West, geopolitics is ‘biggest challenge’ — Easing visa restrictions for foreign students and visitors could help to improve understanding of China, head of XJTLU says.
- Iran looks to tap into China’s BeiDou navigation system to plug security gaps — Experts say the move may increase China’s influence in the Middle East over the longer term.
- Chinese ships collide during clash with Philippine vessel at contested Scarborough Shoal — In latest South China Sea flare-up, PLA Navy and coastguard vessels appear to collide in video during encounter with Philippine boat.
- Global uncertainties drive Chinese rush to African goldfields, despite the risks — Gold miners from China are also more vulnerable to the wave of killings and kidnappings than their Western counterparts, observers say.
- 80 years on from WWII, China’s interests lie in peaceful Asia-Pacific: Rana Mitter — The Harvard expert says that if trends continue, the region could be a bigger driver of the global economy than it is now.
Nikkei Asia
- China fentanyl ring had Japan base, investigator Bellingcat confirms — Group finds evidence that Chinese and Japanese firms were ‘one and the same’.
- China is most ‘imbalanced’ economy in modern history — US treasury secretary expects trade issues to be finished by October.
- Nickel king Indonesia relies on China’s CATL for EV supply chain ambitions — Benefits of integrated production fade as new battery types reach mainstream.
- Hong Kong strengthens Belt and Road links amid US-China tensions — Uzbekistan’s $1.68bn fund eyes listing as city courts emerging markets.
- Fear of Beijing harassment skews Chinese studies in UK, report says — Critique published as new free speech law to protect academic freedom kicks in.
Bloomberg
- Builder China South City Ordered to Liquidate by Hong Kong Court — Developer China South City Holdings Ltd. was ordered to liquidate by Hong Kong’s High Court, making it the biggest Chinese builder by assets to be wound up since China Evergrande Group.
Reuters
- Hong Kong allowing listing applicants more privacy sparks wave of confidential filings — Chinese companies, including autonomous driving firm Zelos Tech and artificial intelligence startup MiniMax, have filed confidentially in recent months to get themselves listed in the city, according to separate sources.
- Thai gallery removes China-focused artworks after ‘pressure’ from Beijing — In what the artists called the latest attempt by Beijing to silence critics overseas, the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre changed multiple works by artists in exile in the exhibit on authoritarian governments collaborating across borders.
- Philippines’ Marcos says China ‘misinterpreted’ his comments on Taiwan — Marcos said Filipinos working and living in Taiwan will have to be evacuated if a conflict does arise but maintained that he wishes to avoid confrontation and war.
Other Publications
- Foreign Affairs: After the Trade War — Remaking Rules From the Ruins of the Rules-Based System.
- The Washington Post: The U.S., China, the Panama Canal — and the community caught in the middle — Pressured by President Donald Trump, Panama pivots toward Washington, raising concern in Central America’s largest Chinese community.
- The Guardian: ‘I don’t expect to live a normal life’: how a Leeds teenager woke up with a Chinese bounty on her head — After speaking out about the suppression of Hong Kong’s protests, Chloe Cheung was targeted by Beijing, followed on the street and abused online. Yet she remains defiant.
- BBC: China’s unemployed young adults who are pretending to have jobs — The owner of the Pretend To Work Company in the city of Dongguan is 30-year-old Feiyu (a pseudonym). “What I’m selling isn’t a workstation, but the dignity of not being a useless person,” he says.
